Saint Petersburg

The Literary-Memorial Museum of Dostoevsky was opened on the 150th anniversary of his birthday in 1971. This house was his last apartment. The Brothers Karamazov novel was written in this house. The Dostoevsky's apartment was recreated for the most part from the memoirs of his wife Anna and of his contemporaries. The Dostoevsky Museum contains a theater for viewing performances and movies based on Dostoevsky's works, and for literary gatherings. Every year in November, when the writer's birthday is observed, the museum hosts an international scholarly conference "Dostoevsky and World Culture", and a journal of the same name is published with the conference proceedings. Exhibits by modern artists are always on display in the exhibition rooms. The museum has become an inseparable part of cultural life in St.Petersburg today.

The Pushkin Apartment Museum is the only memorial Pushkin museum in the city which tells about the last period of the poet's life and work. There Pushkin, mortally wounded at the duel, died on January 29, 1837, and there one can see things that belonged to Pushkin and his family.

The Summer Garden is one of the places where one can feel the atmosphere of Peter's time. The garden with a collection of sculptures and the Summer Palace that was the first Emperor's residence constitute a single museum complex.

The Bronze Horseman is an equestrian statue of Peter the Great Commissioned by Catherine the Great, it was created by the French sculptor Étienne Maurice Falconet. The name comes from an 1833 poem of the same the name by Aleksander Pushkin, which is widely considered one of the most significant works of Russian literature. The statue is now one of the symbols of Saint Petersburg. The statue's pedestal is the enormous Thunder Stone, the largest stone ever moved by man. The stone originally weighed about 1500 tonnes, and was carved down to 1250 during transportation to its current site.

The St. Petersburg Chamber Opera was created by director Yuri Alexandrov in 1987. It was intended to be a creative laboratory and soon took a prominent place in St.Petersburg musical and drama sphere, winning the reputation of “the living opera” or “the searching theatre.” Nowadays artistic director Yuri Alexandrov constantly follows the modern operatic drama, considering it necessary for the theatre’s full artistic development. Over the years, he has staged the operas “I believe” by Piguzov, “The Fifth Journey of Christopher Columbus” and “Spotted Dog Running at the Edge of the Sea” by Smelkov, “White Rose” by Zimmerman, “Cornet Christoph Rilke's song of love and death” by Mattus. His creative approach to the musical content allows the director to incorporate an opera performance in the modern context. The St. Petersburg Chamber Opera performances are annually nominated to most prestigious Russian awards, Golden Mask and Golden Spotlight.